Don’t Get Caught With an Expired Fishing or Hunting Licence

A new year is upon us and that means you might be do for a Fishing or Hunting Licence.

Did you know that your Outdoors Card has TWO expiry dates on it? The most common mistake we see is people checking only one of the two dates and assuming they’re good to go. But in a lot of cases those dates are different. Here’s how you can ensure you are legal to fish or hunt…

1) the expiry date of the actual CARD (the expiry is 3 years from purchase and located on the front of the card. All cards expire on December 31 of the year indicated on the front. In the sample below this card expired December 31, 2021).

    2) the expiry date of your actual LICENCE (the expiry date can be 1 or 3 years from purchase and located on the BACK of the card. You will note that the licence below expired on December 31, 2018).

    Be sure to check both dates, and if you have any questions, just ask us. We are here to help.

    If you’ve lost your card, we can also help. We can order you a replacement card. We can also check to verify if your licence and card are still valid and ensure you get what you need.

    Abandoned Boat Returned to Shore

    JULY 17, 2017-Eight days after the unknown owner of the sunken boat in Long Point Bay hadn’t attempted any recovery efforts, Long Point resident and owner of The Old Cut Boat Livery decided it was time for a little less talk and a lot more action.

    Ray Ferris Sr. quietly located the sunken blue boat and towed it to shallow water where he attempted to turn the vessel upright in an effort to empty her of water and tow her to shore.  Unable to flip the boat over himself, Ferris tied it to ‘the Willow tree’ and returned to shore.

    Ferris called his life long friends Guy, Terry & Jerry Hazen to assist with the recovery mission.  When Guy asked Ray where he towed the boat he said “I tied it to ’The Willow tree’ … a whereabouts and sort of lingo that only locals would identify with.

    A crowd sourcing attempt to raise $9,200 to recover the sunken boat was created on GoFundMe.com by an unidentified individual.  Ferris and the Hazen brothers don’t expect any compensation or kudos for their efforts.

    When suggestions were made that the four men should receive any funds collected from the Go Fund Me page, Ferris said “I’ve been pulling boats out of the bay all my life and I’ve never taken any money for it.”

    In keeping with their humble “aw-shucks” personalities, Ferris and the Hazen brothers declined to be interviewed on camera for CTV News.

    Guy Hazen quipped “It’s all in a day’s work on Long Point Bay”.

    Open Letter to Norfolk County Mayor and Council Re Proposed Parking Fees

    March 15, 2022

    Norfolk County Mayor and Council
    50 Colborne Street South
    Simcoe, ON N3Y 4H3

    Dear Mayor Chopp and Councillors,

    We are writing on behalf of our respective Long Point businesses, some of which have individually been operating for almost 100 years in Long Point.

    We appreciate Norfolk County’s efforts to find a reasonable solution to the municipality’s parking challenges but with surging inflation hurting businesses and consumers alike, we urge you to amend your parking pilot project to lower parking costs on families.

    Specifically, we respectfully request Council to consider reducing the proposed parking fee of $6 per hour to $3 per hour in Long Point. We also request consideration of a maximum daily parking fee to $20 as per staff’s recommendation in their extensive report to Council.

    We understand Port Dover Board of Trade’s position with regards to a $6 fee so as to make spaces available to their customers and to encourage turnover of parking spaces along the Main Street. Long Point does not have a central business district like Port Dover does therefore we don’t share those same issues identified by Port Dover Board of Trade.

    Furthermore, $6 per hour will create more demand for a much cheaper day pass to enter the provincial park thereby creating increased demand to enter the park resulting in a line-up of vehicles on Erie Boulevard.

    The daily rate to enter the park is $12.25. Reducing the hourly rate to $3 per hour will encourage families to use County parking rather than wait in long lines for much cheaper parking.

    We also wish to inform Council that the Long Point Country Chamber of Commerce has advised us that they were not formally consulted on the County’s pilot parking project.

    In closing, $6 per hour is too expensive for families wishing to spend a day at the beach. With surging inflation driving prices higher for food, gasoline and other items, all levels of government should be looking for ways to help make life more affordable for families, not raising fees just to take a trip to the beach. Naturally we are concerned that visitors who have to pay high parking fees won’t be able to afford to spend money in Long Point and surrounding communities.

    While we understand that this is a three month pilot project, those three months are our lifeline following three years of a bridge under construction, high water headaches and COVID-19 lockdowns. After all we’ve been through over the last few years, businesses in Long Point and families need all the help from government we can get. With that in mind, we respectfully request that the pilot be amended to $3 per hour with a daily maximum of $20 in Long Point with increased enforcement and increased fines to be reviewed together at the end of the pilot project.

    Yours very truly,

    OLD CUT BOAT LIVERY LTD. 
    SANDBOY MARINA LTD.
    MARINA SHORES LTD.
    OLD CUT MARINA LTD.
    AT THE BRIDGE
    UDDERLEE KOOL
    LONG POINT STEAK & FROZEN FOOD COMPANY
    THE CHIP SHIP

    An Open Letter to the Hon. Lisa MacLeod

    Dear Minister MacLeod,

    We commend the Premier for taking bold and strong action in the fight against COVID-19. We believe his decisions saved lives as we faced potential exponential growth in COVID-19 and its variants.

    Fishing and boating provides an opportunity for individuals and families to be outdoors with benefits to their mental and physical health, without being in close contact with others. Additional benefits to fishing include economic benefits, and is a means of healthy and affordable food.

    The Ontario Science Table recently commented that “policies that discourage safe outdoor activity will not control COVID-19”.

    The most recent Order in Council has the implication of the closure of boat launches which allow families access to fishing and boating. Section 37, subsection 3 of the Order states “the person who operates the marina shall not permit it to be used for recreational boating purposes”.

    We believe that restricting access to families from fishing and boating is an unintended consequence of the closure of marinas.

    As Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries will you reconsider this oversight and allow marinas to open their boat launches so that individuals and families can go fishing and boating?

    We look forward to hearing from you.

    OLD CUT BOAT LIVERY Inc.
    Per:  Ray Ferris Jr.

    Marinas Must Restrict Access for Recreational Boating

    We commend the Premier for taking bold and strong action in the fight against COVID-19. We believe his decisions saved lives as we faced potential exponential growth in COVID-19 and its variants.

    Fishing and boating provides an opportunity for individuals and families to be outdoors with benefits to their mental and physical health, without being in close contact with others. Additional benefits to fishing include economic benefits, and is a means of healthy and affordable food.

    The most recent Order in Council has the implication of the closure of boat launches which allow families access to fishing and boating. Section 37, subsection 3 of the Order states “the person who operates the marina shall not permit it to be used for recreational boating purposes”.

    Will you all the Premier’s office to bring this oversight of access to fishing and boating by way of boat launches from marinas to the attention of the Premier?

    CLICK HERE to complete an online form where we will then send you a templated letter for you to copy and send to your MPP.